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TUAW's Daily App: Full Deck Solitaire
A solitaire game? That's what you're probably asking out loud right now, since a) there are a ton of solitaire games on the App Store, and b) I haven't had a lot of luck picking your favorites in the past. But there's a reason Full Deck Solitaire is here, and his name is Graeme Devine. Devine is a highly experienced game developer who designed the classic 7th Guest game, worked on Quake 3 Arena, and also worked as Ensemble Studios on Halo Wars, Microsoft's console RTS title. Devine knows how to make great games, yet he's released this, Full Deck Solitaire, under his own personal GRL Games studio. The story behind Full Deck Solitaire is a pretty personal one for Devine, who wanted to make a casual title that his own family could enjoy. Full Deck Solitaire offers 22 versions of solitaire to play, smart hints when you get stuck and lots of customization, including the ability to put your own photos in the background or on the cards. Stats track all of your scores, and full Game Center integration lets you watch friends over the leaderboards. The game's available on the iPad right now for the low price of absolutely free, or you can check out the Mac App Store version. Not only is this an excellent solitaire app by a developer who's been around the block before, but it's a nice personal story for him as well.
And Yet It Moves 50% off in the Mac App Store
If you want an incredibly fun game to play on your Mac, go and buy And Yet It Moves from the Mac App Store. I've been playing it for the last day, and it's one of the best games I've played on my Mac in years. In And Yet It Moves you play a character who has to navigate his way around 17 levels of ecological wonder by running and jumping -- and rotating the world around him. Turn walls into floors, tilt the world to make an uncrossable bottomless pit into nothing more than a minor inconvenience, and rotate the world until you've shuffled drops of water through a maze to help you erode through the earth to reach the next level. With a 90-degree rotation of the world, a large rolling bolder that's about to crush you becomes a useful item to help burst through an obstacle you couldn't pass. If And Yet It Moves sounds kind of wacky, that's because it is. It's The Matrix meets a puzzle game combined with hints of Below the Root thrown in. Besides excellent physics and camera tracking, the game also shines in art direction. It features worlds made of patterns of torn scraps of photographs, while the character you play is seemingly scribbled on your screen with the strokes of a pencil on a shred of paper. To top it all off, it also features an eerily pleasant and fantastic score that fits right in with the game's wonderful worlds. And Yet It Moves is available in the Mac App Store for 50% off for a limited time. At the regular price of $9.99 it's a must have. At the $4.99 sale price, it's a "what are you waiting for?" UPDATE: Just wanted to say I've completed the game, and I can say that And Yet It Moves features the most creative use of end game credits ever.
Mac App Store bargains: Plants vs. Zombies and more
The Mac App Store has been a great place to find bargains, and today brings another one that I'm pretty excited about: Plants vs. Zombies is available for US$10, instead of the $20 that PopCap has charged on its website. I've seen several apps that have offered significant discounts in the Mac App Store, such as Little Snapper, Pixelmator, Aperture (which sells for $80 despite the fact that Apple still offers to preinstall it on Macs for $200!) and more. Have you found any great discounts in the Mac App Store versus previous prices? If so, let us know in the comments.
Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac OS now in the App Store
Finally out of beta, Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac is now available in the Mac App Store. The app lets those with a Windows Phone or a Zune HD and a Mac (an odd mix indeed) move photos, music and video between their devices and Macs running iTunes and iPhoto. Also, Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac can be used to update your Windows phone. Note that, when syncing music, only unprotected (non DRM) tracks are supported. The app is free and, like we said, available right now. [Via Engadget]
Space Gremlin helps you free up hard drive space on your Mac
Who knew gremlins could be so friendly? A new Mac app from Sean Christmann with the fantastic name of Space Gremlin is now available on the Mac App Store. This nifty little tool will help you to eat up all of the junk that's clogging up your Mac's precious hard drive space. It visualizes the contents of each of your drives in a really intuitive way: item squares that scale dynamically based on how large items are in relation to the parent folder or drive. This means that it's a perfect app for finding out which artist is taking up all that space in your iTunes folder, or which game is causing your Mac to run low on resources. There are some other tools available, namely DaisyDisk 2 (which admittedly has a much prettier interface), but there's something delightfully utilitarian about Space Gremlin that's caused me to make it my go-to app for cleaning up my trusty old Mac Pro. Sure, it doesn't look the greatest, but here's my philosophy -- you don't need a shovel encrusted with rubies to move some dirty old junk. I highly suggest that you take the demo of the app for a spin before you slam down the Washingtons for a copy in the Mac App Store, but either way, I'm sure you'll find Space Gremlin to be a pretty awesome utility. Just don't feed it after midnight. Space Gremlin is available on the Mac App Store for a cool US$3.99.
Mac App Store highlights "apps for the creative home"
Apple has set up its first highlighted section for the Mac App Store, in which it displays "apps for the creative home." There are five apps featured in each of four categories (covering things from design to music and photography), and there are some good picks in there, from Apple's own apps to TUAW favorites like Pixelmator, djay and a few others. To be honest, while apps getting featured tends to be good for developers and customers, the display section looks a little sparse. With only five apps per category, that leaves three spaces open on each, and it certainly looks (though of course this is just an assumption) like Apple had trouble finding enough quality apps to fill the space. Not to mention that we're seeing repeats already -- many of these apps have already been featured. For whatever reason (app prices, difficulty in development, customer usage habits), I'd suggest that the Mac App Store isn't taking off quite as meteorically as the iOS store did for both the iPhone and the iPad. Obviously things are growing over there, and we've seen some very impressive numbers already. But it looks like the curve will be a little less steep for the Mac App Store.
TUAW TV Live: Steve and Doc Rock go shopping at the Mac App Store
Now that the Mac App Store has been around for a bit, it's time to see what's available and popular in the new shopping mall that is sitting on the Dock of a lot of Macs. Today, TUAW TV Live host Steve Sande and the best-known iPad user in Hawaii -- Doc Rock -- are getting together virtually to go shopping at the Mac App Store. We'll be throwing out our ideas for the best and most interesting apps to be found in the Mac App Store, talking about the ease of buying, installing and updating apps, and what we'd like to see added to the store. It's all getting started in a few minutes. From your Mac or PC, go to the next page by clicking the Read More link at the bottom of this post, and you'll find a livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments. If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application. If you're on an iPad, you should be able to use the Skyfire Browser to watch the stream, although you will not be able to participate in the chat. We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you get the live stream.
Sparrow mail application now available in the Mac App Store
Sparrow announced today that version 1.0 of its popular email application is now available in the Mac App Store. The developers listened to customer feedback and dropped the price from US$25 to a much lower $9.99. The paid version is free of advertisements and lets you add multiple email accounts. A free, ad-supported version, Sparrow Lite, is also completed and awaiting App Store approval. A quick note for those that installed the beta version. You will notice the Mac App Store detects this beta version and prevents you from purchasing the full 1.0 version. To purchase version 1.0 from the App Store, you must uninstall the beta app using the instructions here. Once the beta version is removed, purchasing and installing the paid version will be as easy as pie. Thus far, the customer response to Sparrow has been incredibly favorable. After a mere few hours on the Mac App Store, the mail application has already climbed to the #1 spot on the top paid applications chart. It is also #2 in top grossing applications and is bested only by Apple's Aperture. We have been following the application since its debut late last year and have been impressed with its elegant simplicity and clean interface. We recommend you give Sparrow a try.
Could the Mac App Store eliminate boxed software inventory?
Blogger Arnold Kim over at MacRumors published an interesting conjecture today -- that Apple is planning on eliminating the space-consuming inventory of boxed software at Apple Stores through an emphasis on purchasing apps through the Mac App Store. The post provides compelling evidence of proof of this, including a quote from Apple's plans for the Personal Setup for Mac service which states that the employees who set up your Mac will "walk you through the Mac App Store." To me, the key point is in the next line, where it is stated that "boxed software also takes up retail space that could be used for higher profit items like iPad or iPhone accessories." As a person who has been visiting Apple Stores since 2003, I've seen Apple moving in this direction for eight years. Early in the evolution of the Apple retail stores, there was an emphasis on boxed software in aisles of wooden shelves, as well as an in-house theater for training. Now there are very few shelves, most located in the back of the stores and with the majority of space devoted to Apple-branded software. Training is done primarily through One-to-One sessions at the actual tables where devices are displayed.
Switchers: Get "Learn the Switch to Mac" for a buck in the Mac App Store
We've been hearing a lot about how many new Mac users there are. During the January first-quarter financial call, for example, we heard that not only were Mac sales up 23 percent over the same quarter a year earlier, but about half of the Macs sold in Apple Stores during that quarter were to people who had never owned a Mac before. For people switching from PCs to Macs, there's not a lot of help available other than scheduling a One-to-One session at the local Apple Store or begging assistance from a Mac-owning friend. For a while, though, developer Saied Ghaffari and his company It's About Time Products have had a Mac app available that can help switchers learn how to make the most of Mac OS X and many of the built-in apps. The app, called "Learn the Switch to Mac," has been available in a special bundle with Parallels Desktop for US$99. It uses the tested learning method of showing someone how to perform an action, then letting them try that action themselves. Saied explains how you'd do something in Windows, then demonstrates the similar action in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Saied has now made the app available (without Parallels Desktop) in the Mac App Store at an introductory price of $0.99. The normal price for the Mac App Store edition of "Learn the Switch to Mac" will be $24.95, so if you are interested in learning more about your new Mac or helping out a friend who has just purchased his or her first Mac, let them know about this great deal. A video explaining how the app works can be viewed on the next page.
Mac App Store promo codes are now available worldwide
Back in December, MacStories reported that Apple wasn't making promo codes (simple codes used to give away copies of an app) available in the Mac App Store. But it looks like Apple has reconsidered, as MacStories is reporting a change, allowing Mac App Store promo codes in any Mac App Store worldwide (it took a while for iOS App Store codes to go international). As before, developers are limited to 50 codes per version of an app.
Counterfeit version of open source game Lugaru HD being sold on Mac App Store
Another developer is offering Wolfire Game's Lugaru HD title on the Mac App Store for 1/5 of what the official game is selling for. How? As per the terms of the Humble Indie Bundle a while back, Wolfire decided to open source the game, though not its assets or characters, and the other version on the Mac App Store is an outright copy with assets included. Kotaku tracked down the developers, who apparently don't believe they've done anything wrong, saying that "we have every legal right to market and sell the software, and we feel that $1.99 is a fair price." The official version sells for $9.99. The worst part here is that Apple obviously approved the app, and as of this writing has not yet taken the app down. Wolfire hasn't yet heard back from Apple, and a spokesperson from the company says only that it's looking into the matter. Then again, issues of intellectual property are often left to developers to negotiate outside the App Store. This is an unfortunate instance where the App Store could clamp down on obvious infringement. The case seems pretty clear-cut -- Wolfire did open source its title, but it also made clear that it retained rights to all of the assets. Since it's fairly apparent that those are being used in the "unofficial" release, I'd expect Apple to take the offending version off of the store soon enough.
Macworld Expo 2011: Trouble Brothers' Sword of Fargoal 2 and other titles
Jeff McCord and Steve Shippert head up a Seattle-based company called Trouble Brothers, and while I visited their booth at Macworld to talk about iOS games, the two have quite a gaming history. They met while playing trivia games in Seattle, and they have worked on real-life board games in the past. They've also done some educational game titles and even a city-wide treasure hunt in their hometown. So these guys know gaming, and the games they've produced for iOS make that very clear. First up, I got to see Sword of Fargoal 2. Sword of Fargoal is one of the most popular RPG titles on the App Store -- it's a retro title that is based on an old roguelike game that's actually run by another company -- Fargoal, LLC -- of which McCord is a part. With his partners Elias Pshernig and Lead Designer Paul Pridham, McCord was showing the game at the same booth, even though it's not technically a Trouble Brothers title. Sword of Fargoal 2 keeps that basic idea, but updates the aesthetic quite a bit. In addition to new music and new dungeon types, there will also be new classes to play via in-app purchase (Thief, Magic user, Ranger and Fighter) as well as male and female versions of each. I also got to see some new animated openings for the game, and they look terrific.
Microsoft "hasn't ruled out" bringing Office to the Mac App Store
When Apple announced the Mac App Store, one of the inevitable concerns people raised was that "someday" Apple would make it the only way to install applications. I said at the time -- and continue to believe -- that Apple won't do this for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest was that I couldn't imagine Adobe, Microsoft, AutoCAD and others would ever want to hand Apple 30 percent of their asking price. Well, apparently Microsoft hasn't completely ruled the idea out. Microsoft's Amanda Lefebvre told AllThingsD that putting Office on the Mac App Store is "something we are looking at... It's something we haven't ruled out. We just have to see how that relates to our business." Color me skeptical. I suspect that what this means is Microsoft is going to see if their market share goes down because new Mac users become accustomed to using the Mac App Store so much so that they start to think of it as the only place to get software. If that is worth the 30 percent trade-off, then we might see Office in the Mac App Store. Another issue is that Microsoft has made their licensing for Office 2011 more restrictive than 2008 whereas the Mac App Store gives users much more generous freedom to install apps on all of their Macs. Saying that they "haven't ruled it out" gives them the freedom to decide later, and I'm guessing that's all this statement is designed to say. I'd still be shocked if it actually happens, but even if it does, I don't expect Apple to make the Mac App Store the only want to install software, at least not anytime in the next several years. Speaking of Microsoft Office, if you haven't checked it out yet, there is now a 30-day trial available from Microsoft's website. [via AppleInsider]
Boinx Software's early push on the Mac App Store
Here at Macworld in San Francisco, CA, we had a chance yesterday to sit down with Boinx Software CEO Oliver Breidenbach, both to hear about the new BoinxTV Home, and also to chat about how the company is doing two weeks into the Mac App Store. The company has been quite aggressive with Mac App Store releases, with everything from the $17 utility Mousepose, going all the way up to the $500 full version of iStopMotion Pro. Breidenbach says that App Store sales are going "great" -- while Apple's review process is taking significantly longer than the iOS store (though he suspects that's simply because it's so much newer), what he's seeing is that App Store revenue "looks as if it's on top of existing channels." That is, customers on the Mac App Store aren't the same customers buying Boinx Software through the company's website or other partners, which means that Mac App Store sales, right now, are brand new income. "But," Breidenbach continues, "I don't think it's going to stay that way."
BoinxTV Home out tomorrow on the Mac App Store
Mike Schramm and I just spoke with Oliver Breidenbach from Boinx, and we're pretty excited to hear about a new Mac App Store release (tomorrow) of a new version of BoinxTV: BoinxTV Home. It's a consumer-level version of the live-broadcast software with a lower price point and distribution through the Mac App Store. We've covered BoinxTV on TUAW a few times, and it's great to see a more affordable version coming to the masses. In contrast to its US$299-$499 older sibling, BoinxTV Home will be $49.99, and it's geared more toward YouTube than broadcast applications. It only works with one camera, but still accepts all video inputs from other applications, so there are plenty of possibilities. It also caps out at 15 layers, but that's more than enough for the average "home" user. Overall, it sounds to us like a good move and will bring BoinxTV to a larger group who could really make use of it's impressive capabilities. Oliver will be demoing the new version for us tomorrow, so tune in to the TUAW live stream at 11:30 PST tomorrow to see it!
Pixelmator grosses $1 million in Mac App Store after 20 days
After just 20 days in the Mac App Store, the Pixelmator team announced that it has grossed more than $1 million through sales. When the Mac App Store launched Jan. 6, the software was made available exclusively through it. Pixelmator is currently the fourth top-grossing app in the Mac App Store. Only Pages, iPhoto and Aperture come in higher. Pixelmator is still on sale for US$29.99.
Official App Store account on Twitter
Apple has an official Twitter account for the App Store, appropriately named @appstore, which promises "official App Store tweets including our featured apps, exclusive offers, and more." The first post from the account came only a few hours ago, but there are already 50,000 followers signed up. One of the questions that people have had with the Mac App Store was the question of "discoverability" of apps on the store that aren't "featured" or on the "top" lists; hopefully this account will be one more way for Apple to get the word out about new apps that you might not otherwise hear about. If you aren't a Twitter user, you can always follow the RSS feed for the account. If you're on Facebook, App Store is there, too.
Discussing the Mac App Store and Billings with Marketcircle
As the first iOS feature to go back to the Mac, the Mac App Store presents unique challenges and benefits to developers. I spoke with Marketcircle CEO Alykhan "AJ" Jetha about his team's experience with moving Billings (our previous coverage of this app) to the Mac App Store, as well as the restrictions that keep their other applications out. TUAW: How soon after learning about the Mac App Store did you decide to use it to sell Billings? AJ: It was a no-brainer; an easy decision. We knew right away that we'd want Billings in the Mac App Store. What was the process like, and how did the vetting process compare to that of the iOS App Store? We submitted the first version on November 3rd. It got initially rejected because we were using the Sparkle update tool. Of course, Apple wants us to use their own. So, we removed that, but left a checkbox in the preferences that offered to check for updates automatically, and got rejected again because of it. We removed that and re-submitted, then ran into a private API call. We worked that out, resubmitted, fixed one more minor issue and were approved a couple of days before the store went live.
Sparrow for Mac coming to Mac App Store
The developers behind the up and coming Sparrow email client confirmed that version 1.0 is almost completed. A successful private beta trial is almost over, and the last reported bugs are being fixed. Sparrow is on track to be submitted to the Mac App Store by the end of the week. Along with a new version of the application, the developers also unveiled the new logo for Sparrow, which is shown above. Released in October as a beta, the recent beta 7 version of Sparrow included support for advertisements that could be switched off in the preferences. When this version debuted, the developers confirmed that future versions of the email client would be available as a free or paid version. Now that Sparrow's appearance in the Mac App Store is imminent, pricing for this premium version has been announced. According to Sparrow's blog post, the pricing will be as follows: Paid: Sparrow will cost $24,99 but early birds will benefit from the $19,99 introductory price. The premium version of Sparrow will not include ads and will let you add multiple accounts, while Sparrow Lite, the free version, will include Carbon Ads and will be limited to one account only. [Via Macstories]
